Connor Kirst’s debut at Rutgers was a long time coming — and he made sure the wait was well worth it.

The fifth-year senior transfer’s road to Piscataway was winding. He joined the Scarlet Knights, his late father’s alma mater, along with his brother, Colin, after three-plus seasons and 126 points at Villanova. Much was made about Connor Kirst’s impact on the Rutgers midfield, and if he could lift this program to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 17 years.

If one game is any indication, his presence will be felt throughout the Big Ten season and potentially beyond.

He became the focal point of the No. 18 Scarlet Knights’ offense immediately, dropping three goals and adding four assists in a season-opening 11-9 upset win over No. 4 Penn State in Piscataway, N.J.

“It was incredible," Connor Kirst said. “I was crying before the game and I gave [Colin] a hug. I know my dad would be so happy right now. It’s crazy to represent Rutgers and fulfill his legacy and keep it going. It’s really special.”

The transfer scored the first two goals for Rutgers and helped his team stay within reach in a game in which neither team led by more than two goals. Adam Charalambides, playing his seventh season of college lacrosse, added three goals and an assist to provide the spark in the four-goal fourth quarter.

Kirst’s brother Colin, a transfer from Lehigh, came up big in the cage with 15 saves. He, too, felt the urge to transfer to Rutgers once the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out his 2020 season with the Mountain Hawks.

“It was a real special moment, sharing it with my brother,” Colin Kirst said.

The Kirst brothers had waited months to put on the Rutgers jersey, one their father, Kyle, donned in the 1990s.

“Kyle was a big part of Rutgers lacrosse in the ‘90s and as a coach in New Jersey,” coach Brian Brecht said. “It’s home, it’s family and we’re excited and happy to have [the Kirsts] here with us.”

Connor Kirst scored twice in the opening quarter, along with Penn State’s TJ Malone, leading to a 4-4 tie heading into the second quarter. Charalambides and Shane Knobloch scored in the second quarter to push the Rutgers to 6-5 at halftime.

Dan Reaume scored back-to-back goals to give Penn State a 7-6 lead out of the break, but it would be the Nittany Lions’ last lead. Rutgers scored four of the next five, including tallies from Kirst, Charalambides and fellow attackman Kieran Mullins.

As the third quarter winded down, Colin Kirst made a save and made a long outlet pass to LSM Jaryd Jean-Felix, who then flipped it to Connor Kirst. With two seconds remaining, Connor Kirst fired home a bouncer to punctuate an in-game connection between the two brothers.

“As soon as he saved it, I was like ‘Oh man, that was crazy,’” Connor Kirst said. “I peeped at the clock and there was about eight seconds left and I was like ‘I got to get on my horse here, and get in range.’ I shot it low and it went high, which was nice.”

Malone, who finished with a hat trick, cut the deficit to 10-9 with 2:31 remaining, but Charalambides’ goal with less than a minute remaining clinched the victory.

CHARALAMBIDES DAGGER @RUmlax takes down @PennStateMLAX 11-9 in the season-opener.

Kirst: 3G, 4A
Charalambides: 3G, 1A pic.twitter.com/kG66ZJ3lda

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 20, 2021

Walker Sets Denver Assists Record in Big East Opener

Ethan Walker entered No. 9 Denver’s Big East opener at Marquette needing a single goal to match Mark Matthews’ program record. The graduate student attackman from Peterborough, Ontario, who attended Culver Military Academy, will have to wait until next weekend to eclipse that mark. Walker did, however, make history in the first quarter when he matched the Pioneers’ assist record, previously held by Alex Demopoulos. 

Walker broke the record in the second quarter and finished Denver’s 10-9 win over the Golden Eagles with three assists. 

Beautiful feed from Ethan Walker to set the career assists mark in the program's history. Hutchko on the end of the pass. 6-1 Pios. #PioneerTogether pic.twitter.com/YyRsvujTsm

— Denver Men’s Lacrosse (@DU_MLAX) February 20, 2021

Despite trailing early, the Pioneers surged to a commanding 6-1 lead on the back of a six-goal run. Junior midfielder Alex Simmons, who entered the game with only one goal through four games and, like Walker, attended Culver, ignited the run with four goals — including a first-quarter hat trick on three shots. 

After two Marquette goals to close out the first half, Jack Hannah’s first goal of the afternoon stretched Denver’s advantage back to 8-3 early in the third quarter. Marquette, however, refused to go away. The Golden Eagles matched the Pioneers with three goals in the third quarter, including two from Griffin Fleming (three goals, one assist) and cut the deficit to two with 7:05 to play in the fourth quarter on a man-up goal by Holden Patterson. John Hulsman, who started the second half in relief of Sean Richard, made seven saves and only allowed four goals. 

Yet it was a pair of saves by Denver’s Jack Thompson (10 saves) that helped seal the win. Marquette’s Devon Cowan scored his second goal of the game on a diving effort with 2.8 seconds remaining to pull the Golden Eagles within one. It was too little too late. 

In their fifth game against opponents playing their first game of the season, Denver pulled its record above .500 to 3-2 and will play Providence (0-1) next Saturday at home. Marquette (0-1) will try to rebound at home against Villanova. 

Maryland Rolls

Jared Bernhardt sprinted to his right then flung a pass 25 yards across the field to a wide-open teammate who scored. Bernhardt didn’t make the play at quarterback for Ferris State, but instead as the quarterbacking attackman who entered Saturday’s game with 191 career points — good for ninth all-time at the University of Maryland. 

CONFIRMED: Jared Bernhardt can sling deep passes in two sports. pic.twitter.com/tqZjr4X2DL

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 20, 2021

Bernhardt, who wears the iconic No. 1 for Maryland, added to those totals this afternoon with two goals and two assists to help the Terrapins claim a season-opening 20-9 win over Michigan at Maryland Stadium. The three-time USILA All-American’s status did not crystalize until late December, since Bernhardt previously planned to spend his fifth year of eligibility playing football at Ferris State, a Division II powerhouse. 

With Bernhardt back, the offense for the No. 3 Terrapins looked perhaps even better than promised. Maryland broke the game open with a four-goal run in the first quarter that senior attackman Logan Wisnauskas punctuated with consecutive goals. After Michigan’s Josh Zawada answered with his second goal of the afternoon, Wisnauskas (three goals, one assist) scored again, starting a seven-goal run by Maryland that put the game out of reach. 

Sophomore attackman Daniel Maltz had a career day with five goals, and senior midfielder Anthony Demaio tied Maltz’s points total with two goals and three assists.  

Zawada, a sophomore attackman who tallied the most points of any freshman last spring, led the way for the Wolverines with four goals and one assist. 

Dominant Second Half Propels Stony Brook

Few games better epitomize the notion that lacrosse is a game of runs than Stony Brook’s 14-8 win over Bryant this afternoon at LaValle Stadium. After Bryant started the game with four unanswered scores, the Seawolves answered with one of their own. Then they used another four-goal run to take their first lead of the game in the third quarter and a six-goal run to put the game away. 

Stony Brook’s offensive output featured eight different scorers. Seven different players had multi-point outings. Graduate student attackman Cory VanGinhoven led the way with three goals and one assist. 

Despite winning only 8 of 26 faceoffs, Stony Brook survived. Anthony Palma’s career-high 16 saves helped preserve the scoring runs. He made nine saves in the second half when Stony Brook’s defense held Bryant to a single goal. 

The win, a week after the Seawolves topped Sacred Heart 20-8, marks the first time Stony Brook has opened their season with consecutive wins since 2017. 

Ley Stars for Boston U

Timmy Ley dropped a career-high six goals to help Boston U. hold off a late rally and down Merrimack 15-12.

Ley, who extended his scoring streak to 16 straight games, found the back of the cage three straight times in the second quarter to break open a tight affair and give the Terriers a 7-4 halftime lead.

Merrimack’s Tommy Rooney had an answer in the third quarter, scoring two of his four goals to pull the Warriors back to a 7-7 tie. Ley led another run that put Boston U up 11-7 with 3:48 left in the third quarter, however.

Christian Thomas answered with two goals, leading a run of five-out-of-six goals to tie the score at 12 with 3:35 remaining. The Terriers scored seven seconds later and then added two more goals to seal the win.

NIKE/US LACROSSE TOP 20

No. 1 Duke 19, Towson 7
No. 3 Maryland 20, Michigan 9
No. 9 Denver 10, Marquette 9
No. 11 Ohio State 14, No. 19 Johns Hopkins 8
No. 18 Rutgers 11, No. 4 Penn State 9

No. 5 Virginia at No. 12 Loyola, 5 p.m.

OTHER SCORES

Air Force 10, Utah 9 (OT)
Boston U 15, Merrimack 12
Delaware 15, NJIT 4
Hofstra 13, Sacred Heart 6
Jacksonville 12, Mercer 11 (OT)
Navy 8, Mount St. Mary’s 5
Stony Brook 14, Bryant 8

UMBC at St. Joseph’s, PPD